Support for stacking cylindrical containers



Sept 1, 1964 s. G. LJUNGDAHL 3,146,733

- SUPPORT FOR STACKING CYLINDRICAL CONTAINERS v Filed Sept. 24, 1962 United States Patent 3,146,733 SUPPORT FOR STACKING CYLINDRICAL CONTAINERS Sven Gte Ljungdahl, Tjaderstgen H, Perstorp, Sweden Filed Sept. 24, 1962, Ser. No. 225,517 5 Claims. (Cl. 10S- 52) The present invention relates to article handling pallets and has for its main object the provision of a pallet for the handling of drums or articles of similar shape which pallet is simple in construction and makes it possible to stack pallets with drums one above the other and to remove them from the stack by means of the forks of an industrial lift truck.

Another object of the invention is to provide a pallet suitable for oil drums or the like of the ordinary type which drums are provided with two ring-formed reinforcing raised portions or ridges on the mantle of the drum between the circular gable plates thereof, which pallet is constructed so as to support the drums at said ridges.

The pallet according to the invention for handling and storing drums comprises a rst set of at least two pairs of straight, parallel drum supporting elements, preferably of iron which elements are arranged in a first plane, a second similar set of at least two pairs of parallel elements arranged in a second plane parallel to said rst plane, the elements of the rst set of beams being arranged opposite the elements of the second set of beams and in parallel thereto, all elements being fastened to frame beams arranged intermediate between said sets of elements, the frame beams constituting substantially the only connections between the pairs of elements of either set of drum supporting elements.

The pairs of elements of either set of element are each intended to support one drum. In a prefererd embodiment of the invention three or more such pairs of elements are provided at each side of the frame beams it being thus possible to load three drums on the pallet. In this preferred embodiment the strong and straight frame beams of which preferably only two are provided each at or near one end of all said drum supporting elements are of such dimensions that when supported by the forks of a lift truck at points intermediate the ends of the frame beams the latter alone can resist the forces, exerted on the frame beams by the weight of a stack consisting of two or more pallets with full load of drums.

The invention will hereinafter be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawing which illustrates embodiments thereof.

FIG. 1 is a front View of the pallet with drum load.

i1G. 2 is a plane view of the pallet. FIG. 3 is a front view of a stack of three pallets with drum load. FlG. 4 is a plane view of a drum to be loaded on the pallet. FlG. 5 is a front view of a part of a pallet with drum load according to an alternative embodiment of the invention.

The pallet, according to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-3, consists of three pairs 7a and 7b, 7c and 7d, '7e and 7f of straight elements for supporting a load of drums 9 which elements may consist of tubes or iron profiles preferably rectangular or U-formed profiles forming an upper set of drum supporting elements, and three pairs 8a and Sb, 8c and 8d, 8e and 8f of similar elements arranged parallel to and opposite the elements a-f and constituting a lower set of drum supporting elements. At the one end thereof all elements are welded to a frame beam 3 consisting of a straight, strong tube or a suitable iron profile. At the other end thereof the drum supporting elements are welded to a second frame beam 5 of similar type as the beam 3. Further frame beams may be used but since two beams are suflicient the shown embodiment is to be preferred.

The pallet 1 with its drum load may be lifted by the ice forks 21 (FIG. 3) of a lift truck the forks being inserted in the spaces 1t) (FIG. 3) between the frame beams of the pallet to be lifted and the underlying drums and then lifted. The beams 3 and 5 are thus supported at points whose distance from the ends of the beams is approximately one third of the total length of the beams. The beams 3 and 5 are very strong so that they can resist the forces exerted thereon when a pallet is lifted by a truck in the aforesaid manner even if a stack of two or three or even four pallets with full drum load is lifted in this way.

There is no other connection between the pair of drum supporting elements in each set of such elements than the frame beams 3 and 5. This feature gives the advantage that the spaces 10 (FIG. 3) in which the forks of the truck shall be inserted is as large as possible so that the forks must not be very accurately adjusted with respect to their direction prior to inserting them into said free spaces 10. The handling of the pallets by means of the truck will therefore be comparatively easy. The feature that the beams 3 and 5 constitute the single connection between the pairs of drum supporting elements also results in that the drum supporting elements 8b and 8c as well as Sd and Se will constitute stops which prevent the pallet from sliding in transverse direction to the forks 21 when the truck with its load is tilted laterally which may sometimes occur during transport.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4 the breadth B of the pallet i.e. the dimension of the pallet at right angles to the plane of the drawing as seen in FIGS. 1 and 3 is preferably less than the length C of the drums to be loaded on the pallet, for instance 10%, preferably approximately 2030% less than the length of the drums.

In FIGS. 1-3 the drums 9 are shown to be supported only by the elements 7a-f at the circular ridges 11 of the drums, said ridges being provided at the cylindrical mantle 15 of the drum between the at circular end plates 13 thereof as shown in FIG, 4.

in a preferred embodiment of the pallet which is partly shown in FIG. 5 the drum supporting elements '7g and 7h consist of U-shaped profiles welded to frame beams 17 in similar manner as described above. In this embodiment the height D of the cross section of the elements 7g, 7h and the distance E between the elements are chosen such that the drum 9 will be supported not only by the elements 7g, 7h at the circular ridges 15 of the drum but also by the frame beams 17 intermediate between the elements 7g, 7h at a point 19 Where the mantle 15 of the drum rests on the frame beam. In this embodiment the drum 9 is thus supported at six points, namely at two points on each of the elements 7g, 7h and at one point on each of the two frame beams 17, this being true in the case that two frame beams are provided. More frame beams will provide for more points of support for the drum. In practice all drums are not supported in every point of support provided for in the pallet according to FIG. 5 owing to different manufacturing tolerances of the drums and owing to occuring damages on the ring-formed ridges and the mantle of the drums caused by frequent handling during transport and storing. Thus it may occur that a drum is not supported by the frame beams at the point 19 when one pallet is stored, but when several pallets with drum load are stored one above the other as shown in FIG. 3 the drums on the lowermost pallet will often be pressed down owing to some resilience of the drum supporting elements 7g, 7h so that the drums come in contact with and will be supported by the frame beams at the points 19. The latter is the case also when a stack of pallets with drum load is transported by a lift truck over a rough surface which causes the pallets to tilt frequently in all directions. During such transport the drum will momentarily be supported also at one or the other of the points of support 19 on the frame beams thus preventing the drum and the stack of drums from tilting too much and thus from breaking down.

Another advantage with the embodiment shown in FIG. is that the frame beam portions between the elements 7g and 7h will function as stops abutting against the ring-formed ridges Ii of the drums should the drums slide axially on the pallet thus preventing the drums from falling down from the pallets during transport.

In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-3 in which only two frame beams are provided one at each end of the drum supporting elements are resilient to a certain extent in the vertical direction under the load of a drum supported by the elements. This is very advantageous especially in connection with the dimensioning of the height D of the cross section of the elements and of the space E between the elements as described in connection with FIG. 5 since it makes it possible for the weight of the drum (and overlying further pallets with load) to be evenly distributed on the points where the drum is supported by the elements and, in the case of FIG. 5 by the frame beams. Thus excessive pressure at certain points of support are avoided which excessive pressure otherwise would lead to damage of the drum.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment shown. Thus, for instance the load supporting elements fastened opposite to each other on each side of the frame beams 3 and 5 for instance the elements 7a, 8a the elements 7b, 8b etc. may be made in one piece instead of being made as separate straight elements as shown in the drawing, the only requirement being that there are provided straight surfaces or edges on each side of the frame beams suitable for supporting the drums at the reinforcing ridges 11 of the drums.

I claim:

1. A pallet for handling and storing drums of the ordinary oil drum type having a cylindrical mantle and peripheral reinforcing ridges comprising at least two frame beams substantially parallel to each other, a first and a second set of three pairs of substantially straight supporting members arranged parallel and spaced in relation to each other, said first and second set of supporting members being attached to said frame beams in a first and a second plane on opposite sides and corresponding supporting members of the first and the second set being arranged at corresponding opposite positions, the main axes of said supporting members extending substantially normally to the main axes of said frame beams, the distance between such frame beams being shorter than the length of said drums, and the distance between the two supporting members of a pair being such that a drum loaded on said pallet is supported by its ridges on said pair of supporting members and by its cylindrical mantle on said frame beams.

2. A pallet as set forth in claim l, wherein sections of said frame beams extending between said pairs of supporting members form supporting surfaces by which the pallet can be lifted and carried by forks of an industrial lift truck.

3. A pallet as set forth in claim 10, wherein corresponding supporting members of said first and said second set arranged at opposite sides of said fame beams are formed as one piece.

4. A pallet as set forth in claim 1, wherein said supporting members and said frame beams are constructed of profile irons, said frame beams being considerably stronger than said supporting members.

5. A pallet as set forth in claim 1, wherein said supporting members and said frame beams are substantially tubular, said frame beams being considerably stronger than said supporting members.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,420,393 Dorsey May 13, 1947 2,430,267 Arthur Nov. 4, 1947 2,446,634 Coit Aug. l0, 1948 2,447,556 Bintney Aug. 24, 1948 2,662,649 Gill et al Dec. 15, 1953 2,662,710 Larham Dec. 15, 1953 2,803,363 Hutchinson Aug. 20, 1957 

1. A PALLET FOR HANDLING AND STORING DRUMS OF THE ORDINARY OIL DRUM TYPE HAVING A CYLINDRICAL MANTLE AND PERIPHERAL REINFORCING RIDGES COMPRISING AT LEAST TWO FRAME BEAMS SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO EACH OTHER, A FIRST AND A SECOND SET OF THREE PAIRS OF SUBSTANTIALLY STRAIGHT SUPPORTING MEMBERS ARRANGED PARALLEL AND SPACED IN RELATION TO EACH OTHER, SAID FIRST AND SECOND SET OF SUPPORTING MEMBERS BEING ATTACHED TO SAID FRAME BEAMS IN A FIRST AND A SECOND PLANE ON OPPOSITE SIDES AND CORRESPONDING SUPPORTING MEMBERS OF THE FIRST AND THE SECOND SET BEING ARRANGED AT CORRESPONDING OPPOSITE POSITIONS, THE MAIN AXES OF SAID SUPPORTING MEMBERS EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY NORMALLY TO THE MAIN AXES OF SAID FRAME BEAMS, THE DISTANCE BETWEEN SUCH FRAME BEAMS BEING SHORTER THAN THE LENGTH OF SAID DRUMS, AND THE DISTANCE BETWEEN THE TWO SUPPORTING MEMBERS OF A PAIR BEING SUCH THAT A DRUM LOADED ON SAID PALLET IS SUPPORTED BY ITS RIDGES ON SAID PAIR OF SUPPORTING MEMBERS AND BY ITS CYLINDRICAL MANTLE ON SAID FRAME BEAMS. 